Making
5G pay
Monetizing
the impending
revolution in
communications
infrastructure
2 Strategy& | Making 5G pay
Australia
Chris Bartlett
Partner, PwC Australia
+61-414-835-935
chris.bartlett@pwc.com
China
Stephen Wong
Partner, PwC China
+86-10-6533-2255
stephen.h.wong@cn.pwc.com
France
Pierre Péladeau
Partner, PwC France
+33-1-44-34-3074
pierre.peladeau@pwc.com
Germany
Thomas Tandetzki
Global Telecommunications
Assurance Leader
Partner, PwC Germany
+49-211-981-1105
thomas.tandetzki@pwc.com
Hungary
Balint Vegh
Manager, PwC Hungary
+36-30-790-1965
balint.vegh@pwc.com
India
Ashish Sharma
Partner, PwC India
+91-124-626-671
sharma.ashish@pwc.com
Japan
Naohide Nomura
Partner, PwC Japan
+88-4179-0328
naohide.nomura@pwc.com
Korea
Hosung Han
Partner, PwC Korea
+82-2-709-8956
hosung.han@kr.pwc.com
Middle East
Bahjat El-Darwiche
Partner, PwC Lebanon
+961-1-985-655
bahjat.eldarwiche@pwc.com
Hani Zein
Principal, PwC Lebanon
+966-555-136-417
hani.zein@pwc.com
The Netherlands
Mark Kuijper
Partner, PwC Netherlands
+31-88-792-5438
mark.kuijper@pwc.com
Contacts
Rolf Meakin advises clients in the telecom, me-
dia, and technology industries on strategy, trans-
formation, capital allocation, and operating model
change for Strategy&, PwC’s strategy consulting
business. He leads PwC’s telecom industry global
consulting practice. Based in London, he is a
partner with PwC UK.
Kirolous Zikry advises clients in the telecommu-
nications and technology industries on strategy
for Strategy&. He has worked with operators in
several countries on commercial strategy and
business models, network strategy, and front
oce transformation. Based in London, he is a
senior manager with PwC UK.
Stephen Wong advises clients in the telecom
and technology industries for PwC. He leads
the rm’s telecommunications sector practice
in China, specializing in business and nance
transformation, mergers and acquisitions, and
capital markets transactions. Based in Beijing
and Hong Kong, he is a partner with PwC China.
Darren Shea is an advisor to executives in the
telecommunications industry for PwC. He helps
network operators develop network technolo-
gy strategies and business models in order to
achieve successful network deployments and
transform underlying operating, technology, and
cost structures. Based in Dallas, he is a director
with PwC US.
About the authors
Spain
Miguel Nardiz Arrarte
Partner, PwC Spain
+34-91-568-4698
miguel.nardiz@es.pwc.com
UK
Rolf Meakin
Global Telecommunications
Advisory Leader
Partner, PwC UK
+44-78-01-247677
rolf.e.meakin@pwc.com
Alastair Macpherson
Partner, PwC UK
+44-77-03546-424
alastair.macpherson@pwc.com
Kirolous Zikry
Senior Manager, PwC UK
+44-77-2563-3388
kirolous.s.zikry@pwc.com
United States
Mike Lawley
Partner, PwC US
+1-678-642-3655
Michael.lawley@pwc.com
Darren Shea
Director, PwC US
+1-469-236-3332
darren.shea@pwc.com
Strategy& | Making 5G pay2
3 Strategy& | Making 5G pay
Scoping the 5G opportunity
The next generation of cellular mobile communications technology has
arrived. 5G, which is set to succeed the 4G standard over the next few
years, oers an exponential improvement in functionality over 4G — it is
100 times faster and has 1,000 times more capacity. The results will be
mobile networks that oer far higher capacity and reliability, much lower
latency, reduced energy usage, and massive connectivity for devices.
Over the coming four years, companies will invest heavily — up to US$57 billion — to build
higher network density, add spectrum, and upgrade active equipment. As they do so, they will
seek to avoid a repeat of the 4G rollout experience. Although 4G, launched in 2012, catalyzed a
revolution in the adoption of data services, operators struggled to generate additional revenues
from end-users to cover the investments. Consumers continually expect to have more — more
data, more connectivity, more functionality — while paying the same or less. This is one of the
reasons that the total shareholder returns of the top 39 telecom companies have lagged that of
wider stock indices over the past three years. And since telecom companies compete strongly
on having the best networks, they face competitive pressure to make 5G investments, even if
they try to do so in the most cost-eective way.
To ensure they reap a fair return for their enormous investments in 5G, operators must think
holistically about the monetization opportunities, going beyond simply charging consumers
more for faster data. While 5G may present xed wireless access (FWA) broadband
opportunities in certain circumstances, it will be dicult to realize attractive returns on
overall 5G investment. In fact, 5G oers not just higher speed but also other valuable — and
monetizable — attributes. Upcoming releases will deliver a number of 5G attributes, such as
higher reliability, segmented network performance, and much lower latency. As a result, 5G
creates the potential for entirely new service oerings, use cases, business models, and revenue
opportunities. Instead of relying mainly on end-users paying telecom companies directly for
connectivity, operators in a 5G world could generate substantial revenues by charging the
companies that are providing 5G-reliant services to their customers. Variants of this model,
which is widely termed business-to-business-to-X (B2B2X), where X can be a consumer, a
business, or a public agency, will be suited to a vast array of widely diering use cases. By
identifying and tapping into these opportunities, operators have the chance to ensure that the
returns on their 5G investments exceed those from 4G. But to achieve this, operators will need
to develop or acquire several vital capabilities.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
4 Strategy& | Making 5G pay
Leveling up to 5G
The era of 5G is upon us. The rst 5G standards — dening communications networks that
promise to be far better and faster than the current system — were nalized in June 2018,
and standards for critical and massive machine-type communication are expected by 2020
or 2021. For this reason, the full technological potential of 5G will be realized over a ve- to 10-
year horizon due to the timing of the relevant standards and the required scale of investment.
Today, many operators around the world are pressing ahead with technical trials and commer-
cial deployments. South Korean telecom carrier KT Corporation collaborated with Intel to oer
5G services at the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games in February 2018.
1
In late 2018, Verizon
launched a 5G-based FWA service in four locations.
2
The majority of operators are aiming for
commercial launches of 5G at some point in 2019. This timing reects the likely introduction of
5G-enabled smartphones, the rst of which were expected to be available in markets such as
the U.S. early this year.
3
Telecom companies around the world are poised to invest tens of billions of dollars in 5G.
A report by research house IDC projects that mobile service providers will collectively spend
nearly US$57 billion on the rollout of 5G through 2022.
4
Although anticipated benets will drive
this investment, there are also challenges that must be overcome if companies are to realize
a sucient return on investment (ROI). To help develop and inform our point of view on the
future 5G business models, we conducted a series of interviews with participants in the global
5G ecosystem.
Anticipated benefits
Operators are generally pursuing three main ways to obtain a return on their 5G investments.
They want to unlock new revenue streams, reduce costs, and improve the customer experience.
1. Unlock new revenue streams
There are several ways in which 5G will enable telecom companies to tap into new sources
of revenue. One is through the ability to compete in new markets. For example, 5G opens the
door for mobile operators to compete head-to-head — in certain markets — against xed-line
incumbents by using 5G FWA to provide fast mobile broadband services comparable to many
current wired broadband oerings. At the same time, 5G oers xed broadband providers the
potential to reduce their costs. For example, deploying 5G FWA instead of the more expensive
FTTP (ber to the premises) and FTTH (ber to the home) alternatives can be more commercially
viable, subject to spectrum availability, premise density, and the extent to which FWA customer
premises equipment (CPE) is aordable.
1
Source: https://mashable.com/article/att-5g-launch/#rEFcxpcVcaqc
2
Source: https://www.multichannel.com/news/verizon-launches-rst-5g-service-in-four-cities
3
Source: https://www.scienticamerican.com/article/5g-devices-are-about-to-change-your-life/
4
IDC, “Market Analysis Perspective: Worldwide Carrier Network Infrastructure, 2018,” Sept. 2018.
5 Strategy& | Making 5G pay
5G also carries the potential to oer new and enhanced services to both consumers and
verticals. Overall, 5G’s disruptive impacts spring from its unique and unprecedented blend
of ve technological capabilities (see Exhibit 1). In combination, these capabilities should
enable three “families” of use cases:
• Extreme mobile broadband and xed wireless access: delivering the fast, high-bandwidth
consumer and business broadband service required by the future. Use cases in this family
might include applications such as faster video streaming, interactive multiplayer gaming,
virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) games and experiences, and connecting
patients with remote healthcare services. AT&T, for example, is partnering with a number of
healthcare OEMs to incorporate 5G into its equipment.
• Critical real-time communication: For business customers, 5G is even more of a game
changer, capitalizing on 5G’s high reliability and ultra-low latency, which enable consistent
responses in real or near real time. Use cases in this category might include the operation
of precision production lines, automated mining, enhanced responsiveness in autonomous
cars, and medical applications such as remote surgery. Development is already underway.
For example, Sprint has built more than 110 points of presence for its distributed networks on
autonomous driving campuses.
EXHIBIT 1
The ve 5G capabilities, enabling three “families” of use cases
Source: ITU, 3GPP, Ericsson, Nokia
5G technical
specication
Super fast
broadband
(1–10 Gbps)
Ecient
energy
usage
Handling
of mass
connection
Highest
reliability and
availability
Ultra-low
latency
(~1 ms)
5G-enabled
applications
Key 5G
technologies
Network slicing mmW spectrum Massive MIMO Beam forming Small cells
Extreme mobile
broadband and
xed wireless
access
Consumer
and business
broadband of the
future (4K, 8K
video, gaming)
Massive machine-type
communication
Highly scalable and low power —
long-term applications, smart grids,
connected homes
Critical real-time
communication
Ultra-reliable and low-latency
applications; mission-critical
applications (e.g., autonomous
cars, real-time control)
6 Strategy& | Making 5G pay
• Massive machine-type communication: leveraging 5G’s high scalability and low power
consumption to connect machines with one another via the Internet of Things (IoT). Use cases
might include industrial applications such as predictive remote maintenance, management of
smart grids, city applications such as real-time trac management, drones, and integrated
services and devices in connected homes.
In addition, the capability for network slicing is one of the key developments of 5G. It will en-
able operators to oer dierentiated services to users and lead to greater eciency and cost
optimization, as it is neither necessary nor sensible to oer a particular class of services to all
customers if they don’t want or need them. Operators in dierent markets are initially focusing
on dierent use cases from all three families owing to variations in 4G network saturation, xed
broadband penetration and performance, and focuses on innovation. For example, the focus in
the U.S. has primarily been on xed wireless and mobile broadband. By contrast, operators in
Japan and the Nordic countries are targeting industry verticals, robotics, and AR, and in South
Korea the emphasis has been on drones and smart factories. Over time, the dierences be-
tween geographies in terms of the use cases being targeted are likely to narrow.
2. Reduce costs
The high costs of investing in the spectrum, network densication, and device upgrades nec-
essary to build 5G will be oset by the fact that 5G will provide 1,000 times more capacity and
speeds that are 100 times faster. The result will be a massive reduction in unit cost per gigabyte
of data trac, yielding economics that will help operators maintain — and potentially increase
— their margins on selling mobile broadband services.
Further cost-saving opportunities from 5G include the potential to introduce increased auto-
mation in network planning and operations. With the 5G rollout comes the opportunity for the
telecom industry to put into practice cost-saving concepts such as operational simplication,
automation, and SONs (self-organizing/operating networks) on a wide scale. Although these
benets should drive down network operating expenditures, they will come at the cost of capital
expenditures on spectrum, networks, and IT. Therefore, ROI cannot rely on cost savings alone.
3. Improve the customer experience
Combined with 5G’s ultra-low latency and near-real-time response, the advances in speed
and capacity also open the way to a far superior experience for customers using 5G networks
across all application types — video calling, video streaming, gaming, interactions with devices
in the connected home, and more. Again, developments are underway. For example, Samsung
is working with Qualcomm to develop indoor 5G with small cells.
Within the 5G domain, these services and quality of customer experience will be managed and
tailored by means of network slicing, which allows operators to horizontally slice their network
resources and provide dierent characteristics (speed, latency, reliability, etc.) for dierent appli-
cations and services.
7 Strategy& | Making 5G pay
The challenges to monetizing 5G
Although the benets oered by 5G services are substantial, operators’ eorts to monetize the
technology face some fundamental challenges. Traditionally, operators’ revenues have been pri-
marily consumer-driven. But generally speaking, the consumer pull that encouraged the rollout
of 4G mobile services is likely to be much weaker with 5G. When 4G launched, many customers
actively wanted the service, and the devices to deliver the services were already available from
major players such as Samsung and Apple. With 5G, by contrast, consumer awareness is lower
and most of the biggest players have yet to introduce upgraded handsets — all of which may
result in a slower uptake.
There’s a second obstacle: Customers will likely be reluctant to pay a premium for better ser-
vice. Recent PwC research
5
shows that just one-third of Internet users would pay more for 5G
technology — 33 percent would do so for 5G in the home, while 31 percent would do so on
mobile. In terms of cost, consumers on average would be willing to pay an extra $5.06/month
for 5G Internet service in the home and an extra $4.40/month for 5G Internet on mobile (see
Exhibit 2). It’s notable that more consumers say they’re willing to pay a premium for 5G in the
home than on mobile.
5
Source: PwC, “The promise of 5G: Consumers are intrigued, but will they pay?” October 2018:
https://www.pwc.com/us/en/advisory-services/publications/consumer-intelligence-series/promise-5g.pdf
EXHIBIT 2
Average increase that U.S. consumers are willing to pay for 5G services
Home Internet
$5.06/month $4.40/month
Mobile Internet
Source: PwC Strategy& analysis
There may be some segments, such as gaming, in which consumers will be willing to pay in-
crementally more for a better experience. But the path to this higher monetization has yet to be
worked out. The main incentive for operators to move to 5G is generally to create more capacity
and reduce their costs. But to achieve returns sucient to justify their 5G investments, opera-
tors will need to look beyond selling broadband connectivity and target new types of use cases
that are specically enabled by 5G’s unprecedented capabilities.
To capitalize fully on these new use cases, operators must understand the nature of demand
and the willingness of end-users and business partners to pay, and work out how the returns
will be generated. They’ll also need to harness powerful processing capabilities, such as edge
computing and cloud computing, that will reduce the cost and enhance performance in applica-
tions such as VR and gaming.
For operators that can bring these elements together, a diverse set of 5G-specic use cases
present themselves across both the consumer and business customer spaces. To name just two
examples, on the consumer side there’s great potential to deliver enhanced AR/VR experiences
— and, more generally, as the range of wearables continues to explode, operators should help
drive the growth and promotion of these devices. This is a particular focus for U.K.-based BT/
EE, which foresees a long list of wearables becoming an integral part of the 5G experience. On
the business side, 5G has huge potential in industries such as manufacturing, which is being
targeted by AT&T and Samsung, working together.
Creating a road map
We believe there is a clear road map to success in the world of 5G. To navigate that world, com-
panies must rst gain clarity on the 5G-enabled services and experiences that consumers, busi-
nesses, and public agencies will want in the future. Then they must formulate their strategies for
monetizing 5G; develop monetization models and required partnerships and platforms; decide
on the use cases and service oerings that will t that model; and, most important, ensure their
capabilities are aligned with their chosen 5G “ways to play.” Players who take all these steps
successfully will be well placed to win in a 5G world.
The main capability gaps with 5G are around the availability
and wide spread of devices and the availability of verticalized
applications. We haven’t yet been approached with any use
cases or applications.”
Senior executive for strategic initiatives at a major
e-commerce site
Strategy& | Making 5G pay8
9 Strategy& | Making 5G pay
Picking winners and losers among the vertical third-party 5G
app providers is not going to be AT&T’s goal. But we do have
the connections and bandwidth that will enable us to bring any
of those third parties to the table and into the discussion.”
Robert Boyanovsky, Vice President, Enterprise Mobility,
AT&T Business
10 Strategy& | Making 5G pay
Ways to play: Emerging strategies for monetization
Operators’ opinions are divided on ways to play and the underlying role they should aim to fulll
with 5G. Some want to be primarily providers of connectivity, acting as an enabler rather than
focusing on creating vertically integrated solutions themselves. By contrast, others want to play
a wider role across the ecosystem, becoming more involved in delivering vertical solutions to
their customers.
But there is a consensus that telecom companies will not be creating the vertical 5G applica-
tions themselves — and that partnerships are the way forward if they are to win a share of the
value generated from them. Carriers are also unanimous in their belief that operators should
extract insights from their 5G networks and not just let 5G trac pass across them. The result-
ing intelligence will be very useful for developing and optimizing many use cases. One of the key
parameters to negotiate in forming partnerships is which parties have access to which data.
Focusing on capabilities
The reality is that the transition to 5G requires a signicant departure from the way telecom
companies have thought and operated in the past. To negotiate the transition successfully, op-
erators need to dene three elements: rst, the services and use cases that consumers, busi-
nesses, and public agencies will value; second, the optimal way to play to monetize and create
value; and third, the capabilities needed to succeed. This interrelationship is illustrated in PwC
Strategy&’s Capabilities-Driven Strategy (CDS) framework (see Exhibit 3, next page).
A way to play that appears increasingly viable for generating value is selling 5G services to
other businesses, which will then sell them as part of their oering to their own customers.
This means expanding away from the traditional business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-
consumer (B2C) business models by adding B2B2X — business-to-business-to-third-party.
Under B2B2X, which encompasses both B2B2B and B2B2C, operators collaborate and share
the rewards with B2B partners.
Telcos need to have a strong strategy that leads and drives the
wider ecosystem, and they must be able to forge partnerships
that are fast, innovative, and that enable them to implement real
products on the ground. Vertical knowledge is a key challenge.
It is hard to build in-house capability spanning all the verticals,
so creating strong partnerships is the way forward.”
Fotis Karonis, 5G Executive Advisor, BT Group
EXHIBIT 3
The Capabilities-Driven Strategy (CDS) framework
Source: PwC Strategy& analysis — see https://www.strategyand.pwc.com/cds/approach
Strategy& | Making 5G pay 11
P
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o
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a
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d
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i
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e
s
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r
e
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advantage
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i
l
i
t
i
e
s
s
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s
t
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a
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y
What are you going to
sell and to whom?
Which
capabilities do
you need to play
eectively?
What are
your ways to
play to create
value?
Strategy& | Making 5G pay12
EXHIBIT 4
Typical 4G business model
Pricing dimensions
• Speed
• Allowance
Digital multichannels
Telco
Customer Third party
Flow of service Flow of money
Source: PwC Strategy& analysis
EXHIBIT 5
5G “connectivity provider” model
Pricing dimensions
• Speed
• Allowance
• Latency
• Quality of service/reliability
Digital multichannels
Telco
Customer Third party
Flow of service Flow of money
Source: PwC Strategy& analysis
Why focus on B2B2X?
B2B2X represents a signicant break with the recent past for operators. Consumers’ response
when presented with a plethora of over-the-top (OTT) services has dictated that telecom com-
panies focus mainly on the type of business model illustrated in Exhibit 4. Under this model,
commonly used for 4G services, the operator sells voice and data connectivity directly to
end-users, who simultaneously contract separately with their chosen third parties to access ser-
vices over that connection. For example, a user might buy a 10 GB data plan from the operator
and a separate subscription to a video-streaming service such as Netix or Amazon Prime.
But this pattern is now evolving: Some operators have started to partner with OTT service pro-
viders to bundle their service with connectivity subscriptions, sometimes with an explicit charge
and sometimes without (for example, by making certain streams unmetered against the custom-
er’s data bundle). “With the improvements in network capabilities in the 5G era, customers can
expect to enjoy more network services bundled with content provider services — including
accelerated gaming — and the operator could oer its network service to the customer as part
of that bundle,” said a senior executive at an Asian Internet player. “So, as a content provider
that is closer to the requirements of the customers, we could be the sales channel for the opera-
tor’s network service.”
In the 5G world, where the network technology allows a far greater range of functionality that
can be monetized, telecom companies have many more opportunities to develop these types of
collaborations with a variety of businesses and public agencies. We see three main options for
how operators could monetize this greater functionality.
• Connectivity provider — operator-led B2B or B2C: The telecom company extrapolates the
typical 4G pricing and bundling model by applying additional elements and innovation. This
may involve adopting an “airline-type” approach, delivering a multitiered connectivity service
to both B2C and B2B customers based on the level of package selected by the customer
(see Exhibit 5).
13 Strategy& | Making 5G pay
To implement such a model, an operator could oer dierent speeds, quality-of-service levels,
and pricing levels to match each customer’s needs and budget. A variation on operators’ tra-
ditional approach, this tactic runs a risk of becoming overly complex for end-users, who may
struggle to understand the value of a plan whose pricing is dened on the basis of technical
functionality (such as latency and reliability) rather than simply speed and data allowance.
• Solution enabler — third party–led B2B2X: A third party such as a cloud provider or
video-streaming service incorporates 5G connectivity sourced from the operator as part of
its own oering. The third party markets the bundled oering to its customers, receiving
revenue through either direct payment or some other monetization model, while paying the
telecom company for the network usage and variable functionality in the form of either a
network charge or a revenue share. The third party eectively buys a “slice” of the operator’s
5G network capacity for its own use, and the interface between them is managed and enabled
through application programming interfaces (APIs) (see Exhibit 6). “We don’t need to devel-
op every capability in-house, especially if they are core to other sectors,” notes Vishal Dixit,
director of strategy and wholesale, Vodafone U.K. “We recently announced a global strategic
partnership with IBM focused on cloud and hosting. We will jointly go to market, with Voda-
fone leading on connectivity and IBM leading on verticalized solutions.”
• Solution creator — operator-led B2B2X: An operator creates new digital propositions by
bundling third-party products and services with its core connectivity and markets the bundled
solution directly to its own customers (see Exhibit 7). Telecom companies might use this
approach to create vertically integrated solutions that bundle third-party oerings, such as
AR/VR services and equipment, with access to their 5G networks.
Under this model, a telecom company could oer its customers a data plan that comes com-
plete with VR gaming, including a VR content subscription and a headset, at no extra cost. A
number of operators, including Vodafone, already make commercial agreements with OTTs to
buy their services wholesale and resell them to consumers — and they are looking at how this
EXHIBIT 6
5G “solution enabler” model
Pricing dimensions
• Speed
• Allowance
• Latency
• Quality of service/
reliability
Telco
Customer Third party
Flow of service Flow of money
Source: PwC Strategy& analysis
APIs
EXHIBIT 7
5G “solution creator” model
Pricing dimensions
• Speed
• Allowance
• Latency
• Quality of service/
reliability
Digital multichannels
Telco
Customer Third party
Flow of service Flow of money
Source: PwC Strategy& analysis
APIs
type of model could be enhanced to build in 5G functionality, allowing customers to pick and
choose from a menu of OTT products and receive a discount depending on their selection.
New collaborative monetization models will undoubtedly be invented as the possibilities of 5G
become clearer to the market. Operators have the opportunity to be proactive in scaling up
and industrializing their partnership-based businesses.
The availability of these widely varying business and monetization models will enable opera-
tors to benet from greater choice and exibility in terms of their services and pricing, and will
spread value around more evenly into dierent areas of the ecosystem. Across all the models,
operators and their partners will tailor their service oerings to capitalize on emerging technolo-
gy trends such as the IoT, AI, drones, robotics, smart cities, and Industry 4.0.
Telcos are keen to oer our branded devices — they’ve been
investing and focusing on acquiring and developing content
for them. So a B2B2C VR model will be a good mechanism to
distribute and package VR content more attractively. We want
5G to unlock the uptake of high-quality but cheaper all-in VR
solutions.”
CEO of a virtual reality hardware company
Strategy& | Making 5G pay14
15 Strategy& | Making 5G pay
Selecting the optimal business model
To help operators and other participants in the quickly expanding 5G ecosystem identify the
most suitable business model — connectivity provider, solution enabler, or solution creator —
for each specic use case, PwC Strategy& has developed a matrix of ve criteria for scoring
potential use cases.
When the operator’s third-party partner in a potential business model
has a very strong brand in relation to the target use case, the third party
has an advantage in owning the customer relationship. For example,
game-streaming service Twitch would have stronger brand strength
among the serious gamer customer segment for an enhanced 4K
gaming service than a telecom operator.
If the prospective third-party collaborator already has a high market
penetration in the sector where the use case is located, the situation
also points to that third party owning the customer relationship.
For example, a specialist engineering solutions provider with strong
penetration among transit authorities would be better placed than an
operator to roll out a dynamic trac control system.
If the use case is closely aligned with its existing capabilities, the tele-
com company has a greater ability to own the customer relationship
and secure a higher proportion of revenue share. For instance, an
operator’s existing strengths in distribution, service delivery, billing
capabilities, and physical presence may mean it’s well placed to sell
AR/VR experiences over 5G to consumers and businesses. This points
to the solution creator option for the business model.
The higher the relevance of the telecom operator’s brand to the use
case, the greater the operator’s ability to own the customer relation-
ship and claim a bigger share of revenues. For example, an industrial
OEM may have a stronger brand than a telecom operator for selling an
automated, real-time controlled production solution to manufacturers.
In this case, the telecom company should probably aim to partner with
and support the OEM as a solution enabler, rather than expecting to
take the lead itself.
When a use case has a high intensity of 5G usage or is critically
enabled by 5G, it may give the operator a greater ability to own the
business model and take a bigger slice of the resulting revenue.
For example, for VR headset distribution business models, operators
are well placed to act as solution creators because of not just their
physical retail presence and device nancing but also their ability to
optimize network slices for graphics-heavy gaming requiring ultra-high
5G speeds and cloud-based edge computing for low latency rendering.
Third-party brand
strength
Third-party market
penetration
Alignment with the
operator’s internal
capabilities
Operator brand
relevance
Associated
usage intensity
or dependence
on 5G
16 Strategy& | Making 5G pay
By scoring a use case against each of these criteria, an operator can determine which 5G
B2B2X business model is most suitable. In some instances, it’s possible that multiple business
models might work for a given use case. In that situation, operators’ capabilities and brand per-
ception are likely to be the deciding factors. This means individual operators in a similar market
may have dierent levels of success with the new 5G business models, depending on how well
they establish and execute their way-to-play strategy.
Indicative use cases
Here are three potential use case studies within the three families identied earlier.
We’ve set up America’s rst 5G manufacturing-focused
innovation zone jointly with AT&T. There are a wide variety of
use cases in manufacturing, with safety and security high on
the list.”
Alok Shah, Vice President, Networks Strategy, Samsung
Electronics America
Extreme mobile
broadband and
xed wireless
access
Example use case:
Consumer and business
“VR/AR to anywhere” via
5G mobile
1
• The fast connectivity and high capacity provided by
the 5G network allow customers to access content
and communicate in real time using VR and AR.
• Data-hungry applications are highly reliant on the 5G
technology that can drive the uptake of these servic-
es, even if the provider oering them does not have
an established brand in the VR/AR market.
• The operator has the right marketing reach and brand
perception to include VR/AR wearables as part of its
portfolio, using brick-and-mortar stores as experience
centers to promote and bundle the VR/AR oerings
with smartphones and tablets.
• The business model criteria matrix points to the
solution creator business model, with the telecom
company taking the lead.
Family
17 Strategy& | Making 5G pay
Critical
real-time
communication
Example use case:
Smart manufacturing
2
• A joint proposition between a machinery manufacturer
and telecom operator enables owners of manufactur-
ing facilities to use 5G to connect sensors, machinery,
and robotics via the IoT.
• The solution enables greater automation, together
with remote control and monitoring of processes and
product quality.
• The machinery manufacturer’s large installed base
among the target customers points to the solution
enabler role for the operator.
Massive
machine-type
communication
Example use case:
Predictive maintenance on a
remote oil and gas pipeline
3
• Drones equipped with cameras and 5G connectivity
constantly scan the pipeline for leaks, damage, or
attacks, and transmit the data collected to the
company’s central control system.
• The drone data is supplemented by 5G-connected
sensors on the pipeline, continuously sending
real-time condition data on topics such as stress,
temperature, and pressure.
• Most of the routine maintenance in inhospitable areas
can be handled remotely by drones, with human
teams sent in only when necessary.
• The strength of industry-specialist eld service pro-
viders’ brands in the oil and gas maintenance market
means the business model matrix points to the solu-
tion enabler role for the telecom company.
Family
Family
18 Strategy& | Making 5G pay
Capabilities for success in a 5G world
In combination with the right monetization models and customer-relevant use cases,
telecom operators will need a number of commercial, operational, and technical capabilities
to ensure they generate an appropriate return on their 5G investments. Four capabilities will
be especially critical.
The relative importance of each of these capabilities will depend on the way to play that an op-
erator chooses and on the business models used to execute that strategy. Telecom companies
that adopt a solution enabler or solution creator way to play will require vertical industry engage-
ment and a culture of mass collaboration.
As the 5G network is built, it will be vital
to ensure sucient spectrum across
various bands, introduce automation and
simplication to optimize operation, and
identify how to deploy the network e-
ciently at a specic level of densication
(i.e., with enough small cells to provide a
high-quality service). Will network sharing
reduce the cost to deploy 5G? And if so,
which elements should be shared? Net-
work sharing is one way for operators to
reduce costs and fast-track deployment,
as Vodafone and O2 are doing in the U.K.
The right 5G
network
Commercial
innovation
Operators will need the ability to create
or enable new services, pricing models,
and commercial partnership agreements
in days or hours rather than weeks or
months, while also leveraging data ana-
lytics and AI to ensure that their services
add value for customers and ecosystem
partners. They must ensure that their
customer service solutions can handle
the increased sophistication needed for
customers using 5G applications.
Vertical industry
engagement
Operators must develop advanced ca-
pabilities in prototyping vertical 5G use
cases and demonstrating the benets.
Other important steps will include estab-
lishing vertically focused product man-
agement, sales, and marketing functions,
as well as optimizing the CRM, solution
sales platforms, order-to-fulllment, and
post-activation support capabilities.
An ability to forge close and trusted part-
nerships with OEMs, OTT players, and
content providers will be vital to additional
monetization of 5G. This will require a col-
laborative culture put into eect through a
well-developed partner engagement and
relationship-building capability, coupled
with the ability to link into third-party
solution catalogs, jointly create bundled
products, and articulate each value prop-
osition to partners, customers, and the
wider market.
A culture of mass
collaboration
Strategy& | Making 5G pay 19
It’s possible that some of the 5G business
model and pricing innovations discussed in
this paper might at rst sight be regarded as
“anti-neutrality.” However, this view misses
a fundamental point. 5G’s network slicing
capability will allow it to customize network
attributes and oer users the specic experi-
ences they want in a cost-eective way. This
will open the door to a plethora of new ser-
vices that customers will value, and will justify
investments in 5G. Service specication and
prices can be better aligned with customer
demand and can be managed in a specic
network slice without impinging on other net-
work slices.
This facility represents a step change from the
relatively undierentiated world of 4G connec-
tivity. 5G will be able to deliver additional value
to consumers by better meeting their specic
needs without resorting to the lowest common
denominator, a one-size-ts-all mobile net-
work. In fact, 5G will be able to deliver trans-
parent management of a “neutral slice.”
monetization in
the context of
net neutrality
5G
We believe the evolution of 5G capabilities
should be accompanied by an evolution of
neutrality regulation. The evolution will allow
for the development of dierentiated B2B2X
services alongside an open network that pro-
vides access to content and applications. We
therefore see no conict between the “free”
Internet and fundamental principles of network
neutrality on the one hand, and the various
business models discussed in this report on
the other.
However, although regulators and govern-
ments want 5G to succeed, their interpreta-
tions of network neutrality are varied. To help
them appreciate why 5G requires a new and
dierent regulatory approach, telecom opera-
tors should start by clarifying their own regu-
latory viewpoints on 5G. They should engage
with regulators and governments by putting
forward real-world examples and use cases,
and pressing the case for appropriate incen-
tives and returns that will justify the massive
investments needed to realize the full promise
of 5G for societies and economies worldwide.
20 Strategy& | Making 5G pay
Act now
As 5G services are launched, the most immediate use cases in the short to medium term will
likely be in xed wireless access broadband, extreme mobile broadband, manufacturing, and
support of emergency services. But these will just be the start, as new experiences and appli-
cations enabled by 5G emerge. “5G will give rise to new business models, which will become
more clear after a period of commercial and technological innovation,” said VIshal Dixit, director
of strategy and wholesale at Vodafone U.K. “To take a leading role in this evolution, operators
need to gain experience in platforms and platform business models, add non-telco sector
knowledge to their DNA, and hire people from diverse backgrounds to build a more diverse,
future-focused talent base.”
For operators, it will be imperative to dene the way to play, looking holistically at the potential
business models and use cases in the 5G services market. This in turn will dictate the capabil-
ities they’ll require. To monetize 5G eciently and eectively, we believe operators will need to
ramp up and excel in the use of B2B2X business models applied to the right use cases. Having
dened their way to play, operators should build or strengthen the four key capabilities set out
above: the right 5G network, commercial innovation, vertical industry engagement, and a culture
of mass collaboration. They should appreciate that 5G is not the answer on its own. For full
monetization, 5G needs to be coupled with other technological capabilities such as edge com-
puting, cloud computing, AI, and automation — and it will demand real insight generation, rather
than just data collection and transmission from A to B.
Whatever way to play they choose for a 5G world, few operators looking to take these steps
will have all the required capabilities readily available to them internally. So they likely will need
partners, including entrepreneurs with the ambition to invent new commercial models using 5G.
It is from this mutual dependency that the possibility for operators to fully monetize 5G will arise.
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21 Strategy& | Making 5G pay
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